Even as post-rock band Aswekeepsearching are hard at work to meet the deadline to release their second full-length Zia in April, vocalist-guitarist and founding member Uddipan Sarmah has already put a marketing plan in place.

Sarmah, armed with the album, will visit 13 cities – starting from his headquarters in Ahmedabad to Vadodara and the major metros – to host listening sessions for a select number of fans. The sessions will be held in living rooms and jam pads. Sarmah says, “The idea came to me last month, so I did a ground-level survey and got into conversations with friends in different cities to know if it would work.”

With the album more or less completed a good six weeks prior to release, Sarmah is utilizing the precious time designing innovative ways to engage fans. “I thought I’d go where the band can’t necessarily go [to perform] due to logistics and all, and I’ll get people to listen to the album,” Sarmah says.

Entry to the listening session is on a first-come-first-serve basis via online registration (details below), with special invites also being handed out to friends of the band and long-time supporters. Apart from the metros, Zia will get a premiere in places like Puducherry, Kochi and Guwahati as well. Sarmah adds, “There should be about 15-20 people for each session and in the bigger cities, there will probably be two sessions based on how many people register. The venue will be disclosed closer to the date.”

When they’ve poured all their funds into creating and promoting Zia, Sarmah says there wasn’t a budget for these listening sessions, until he got introduced to Ahmedabad-based entrepreneur and music enthusiast Amit Gupta, CEO of market research company InfoAnalytica. “There was a synergy working with Aswekeepsearching. I usually do things on a gut feeling and I had a good feeling about this. It’s amazing that they have the conviction to do this and I wanted to support that.” Gupta will also fund Aswekeepsearching’s upcoming album launch tour.

As for the listening sessions, Sarmah guarantees there will be a lot of storytelling, a lot of behind-the-scenes access and the music. He says, “The whole point of this is to build a community. It can’t be just four guys in the band sharing the music.”